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Ontario’s chief coroner ponders review of youth suicides

Ontario&rsquo;s chief coroner is considering conducting a review of youth suicides in the province, with particular attention to victims who identified as, or were perceived to be, gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or questioning.

A group of teens gathered in front of A.Y. Jackson school inKanata, Ont., to rally against bullying in the wake of 15-year-old Grade10 student Jamie Hubley's recent suicide. (CHRISTOPHER PIKE / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Kenyon WallaceToronto Star

Wed., Nov. 2, 2011

The office of the chief coroner for Ontario is considering conducting a review
of youth suicides in the province, with particular attention to victims who
identified as, or were perceived to be, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

The possible review, for which no timeline has been determined,
was sparked by a request made Wednesday to Chief Coroner Dr. Andrew McCallum by
Egale Canada,
a national LGBTQ human rights organization.

“Dr. McCallum has received (the request) and is considering it,”
Cheryl Mahyr, a spokesperson for the coroner’s office, told the TorontoStar. “The office is aware of the issues that have been spoken to
in Egale’s letter, and the office does share the concern ... Every death
investigation is individual but we’re always looking for common factors with
regard to this issue.”

Mahyr stressed, however, that while the request is under
consideration, the coroner was not in a position to make a decision yet.

Egale Canada requested
the review to determine what youth support systems are failing and how they can
be improved to help prevent suicides, such as that of Ottawa teenager Jamie Hubley, according to
Helen Kennedy, the group’s executive director.

The 15-year-old openly gay student killed himself on Oct. 15
after years of being bullied and battling depression.

“Currently, it seems like we are doing nothing to address youth
suicides,” Kennedy said. “A person commits suicide, and it’s in the media for a
day to two, and then we rarely hear about it again. We need to find out why
these kids are falling through the cracks.”

In addition to reviewing what current support systems are
failing, Kennedy has asked the coroner to delve into the underlying causes of
youth suicide in Canada
with a focus specifically on what can be done to prevent suicide among LGTBQ
youth.

Between 2000 and 2008, 295 youth between the ages of 10 and 14
committed suicide in Canada,
while 1,831 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 killed themselves during
the same time period, according to Statistics Canada.

The aim of the coroner’s review would be to develop
recommendations that would act as guidelines in the creation of public policy,
curriculum, and training courses for teachers, among other things, Kennedy
said.

Such a review would not be the first time the chief coroner has
tackled suicides in the province. Last summer, McCallum released a review of
youth suicides that occurred between 2006 and 2008 at the Pikangikum First
Nation in northwestern Ontario.
During that time, 16 children and youth between the ages of 10 and 19 killed
themselves in the First Nation.

Ellen Blanchette, mother of Jeanine Blanchette, a 21-year-old
Orangeville woman who committed suicide last year with her partner Chantal
Dube, 17, welcomed the possibility of a review.

“I think it’s a good idea,” she said, but stressed that her
daughter’s sexuality had nothing to do with her suicide.

The lifeless bodies of Jeanine Blanchette and Dube were found
last October in a wooded area in Orangeville. The two had been dating for eight
months after meeting at a group-therapy session.

Kennedy said that Blanchette and Dube “faced suffering that no
youth should ever have to confront.”

Irwin Elman, the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, noted
the coroner’s review of suicides at the Pikangikum First Nation gave the province
tools to pursue change and advocacy efforts, and said that he supports a wider
review.

“Such a review would be very useful to thinking about how we can
prevent suicide and honour those lives, and learn from those situations so that
others don’t suffer,” Elman told the Star. “If the coroner chose to review
those deaths, I would certainly be willing to work with him.”

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